The Chronicle of a Final Fantasy
by CloudTrueSoldier
Summary: The Alconians, an alien race that finds its entertainment by populating a world with peoples they create, and then watching them destroy themselves, have created a new planet to watch. This is a chronicle of one Final Fantasy.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This is just a prologue. It is not long, however the other chapters will be. Also, Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft. I'm just promoting their wonderful game.  
  
Prologue  
  
A lone man stood on the rolling planes of the deserted planet. No, deserted wasn't the proper word. It was a new planet that hadn't been filled with life. Yet it was alive. Created by one of his own kind. Created by him.  
  
The race that the man belonged to was one that now thought they were invincable, and that they ruled the universe. The Alconians.  
  
They created planets.  
  
They created races.  
  
But they also destroyed them. They pitted the races together in war, watching carelessly. A form of entertainment really. The man thought it sick and disturbing. No living creature should have war forced upon itself, not even if it was created in a lab.  
  
He looked out over the plains, realizing that a war would take place on this very soil. Damning it to Hell with blood stains and piles of lifeless corpses.  
  
But he had created a unique planet, and a unique race. The planet had what he had coined, "The LifeStream." A complex object that even he found hard to explain.  
  
He had dedicated a good few hundred centuries to the project, but it was all worth it. He watched a glowing green tentacle rise from the soil, a tree forming from it. The first bit of life to be created on the planet. He watched as more green tentacles arose, and more vegetation was born.   
  
That wasn't the end of his inginuity however, he had created his race to interact with the Lifestream. The Cetra he had come to call them. A word meaning peace in some native tongue lost long ago. He had had a hard time giving the Council permission to let his own race fight upon his own planet. But after a few more decades the final plans were set, and the war would take place in a mere 5 years.  
  
The three other races were all bred to be of warrior class. Strong, brutal, and nearly emoshionless. He knew that without the Lifestream and a few extra little tricks he had waiting, his race would die in the blink of an eye. He clasped one of the green orbs in his hand, and then tossed it out into the plain of rolling grass. "Simon," he whispered to himself, "Perhaps a new age will befall your people. Perhaps..."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The war was a mere day away, and it was simply called, "War 13342" A simple designation given to the 13,342nd war that the Alconians had recorded.  
  
The four races were assembled, all just lifeless corpses right now. They would have life injected into them, like some kind of medication. And then memories would be created for each idividual. All four races tying into one another, and creating an interwoven history of conflict between them.  
  
Simon quietly watched as his Cetra were being brought to life in stasis. They wouldn't wake up until they reached the surface and were deposited into their respective homes. An entire world had been built upon the surface of his planet, which he simply called Planet.  
  
Three fourths of the structures would most likely be destroyed. He sighed, looking over the lists of the three races that were going to be trying to stop him from obtaining peace.  
  
The Gargoyles. A term he hadn't seen since he had read one of the ancient books imported from the ancient race they had once came from.  
  
The Demons.  
  
And the Titans.  
  
He looked at the specs for each individual race. All large, burly, muscular, able to handle any weapon. However, all were pretty dull. The Council didn't allow a race to be perfect, they didn't want to be overthrown. So, they carefully monitered the progression of every race.  
  
He put the compupad down, watching out the starboard window as flames errupted around his ships shields, the beautiful flames, dancing on his golden eyes. The ship came to a slow and gentle halt upon The Planet's surface.  
  
The hatch opened with a hiss as it lowered slowly to the ground, the teal steps landing on the ground below. His crew began to unload the Cetra and placing them in their various places with PMVs. The Personal Mobile Vehicles were able to carry one crew man and five Cetra. And the task of placing the 50,000 beings was quickly finished with the incredable speed of the PMVs and the quick working of his crew.  
  
He walked slowly back up the teal steps, a slight clank resounding in his ears as his metal Counsil issue boots rang out on contact with the steps. He turned around, giving a final farwell to The Planet and the Cetra.  
  
The door closed once again, a slight hiss escaping for the second time in 24 hours, and the ship took off silently.  
  
He flipped on his viewscreen, and then pressed the red button in unison with the other 3 Creators, and the Cetra, the Gargoyles, the Demons, and the Titans all awoke.  
  
And so it begins. A Chronicle of one Final Fantasy. 


	2. War13342

Chapter 1: War13342  
  
A Cetra lay on the ground, blood seeping from a wound that had been inflected by a Demon. A gash by one of its claws across the chest. The Cetra lay gasping for air, unable to move his hands a small bit to grab one of the green orbs clasped around his belt.  
  
But another Cetra ran up to the man, taking one of his own green orbs. He concentrated steadily on it, and a Titan watched curiously as the orb began to glow brighter and brighter. The luminesent glow of the orb caught the eye of the Titan. He watched closely as the wound healed and the first Cetra thanked the second.  
  
The Titan thought it impossible and charged the two, trying to kill them. But the Cetra were too quick. Half way before you reached the pair, they eached concentrated on a green orb and suddenly the Titan was burnt into a writhing corspe, screaming in pain until he died.  
  
The war had been a brutal series of fights. The Battle of the City of the Cetra was the most important. The three races had decidedly ganged up on the the magic-weilding people, trying to overcome their strongest opposition before going at each others throats. But the Cetra had found that their "Materia" had somehow grown stronger over the previous fights, and their spells were twice as strong, giving them the advantage in the turning point of the war.  
  
---  
  
Simon watched intently upon his orbiting ship, high in the stars to the People of the Planet. His people. His Cetra. His Planet. He clasped his hands together and rested his chin upon them. He found no entertainment in the watching of a slaughtering and decidedly turned the view screen off.  
  
He turned quietly to his crew, who all seemed happy and content with how the war was turning out. His Cetra were winning. And not just barely winning, but after the City of the Cetra battle they were destroying the opposition. They had lost few members of their army, while the others were loosing men by the thousands.  
  
He turned back to the blank view screen, knowing well what was going on on the surface. Beings were being killed. Horrible, mutated, living beings were being killed by people he created. A burden had been weighing heavily upon his shoulders and he knew well what the reason was.  
  
I should be happy. This may start a revolution. A time for peace. My people may become the catalyst to a new way of life. His eyes seemed intently focused upon the screen. Searching.  
  
---  
  
"Hello soldiers. I am General Aden, the one who will be leading you to your next victory." He was burly for a Cetra, although that still made him little when put up against a Demon or a Gargoyle.  
  
"I wanted you all to know a new materia is being issued."  
  
"A new materia?" Bursts from the ranks rang out.  
  
"Yes, they say it is much more poweful then the standard elemental materia's you now use." Aden replied calmly.  
  
"More poweful? That's not possible!" More exclamatory bursts of disbelief.  
  
"Yes. That is why they are to be carefully used, and only delt out to the higher ranks because of the technicalities that arise while in production."  
  
"They're actually PRODUCING materia now?"  
  
"You soldiers are uniformed. The commander told me that you were a few weeks back..." Aden still remained composed and willing to explain.  
  
"They found a way to harvest the Mako from the ground and create Materia in a matter of days. However, the newest materia takes an extremely larg amount of Mako to produce it."  
  
"What's it called?"  
  
"The Ultima Materia." Aden replied.  
  
"Ultima huh?" The Cetra had become relaxed since they first were awoken from their past lives that they had never lived. Perhaps due to their great victories of past.  
  
"Yes. Its sends out a huge green wave of what the call Mako Radiation. Very dangerous and causes massive amount of damage on contact. However, even if it does not kill your enemy upon contact, they will die within a matter of hours."  
  
"Amazing." Whispers ran through the room at the thought of such power.  
  
General Aden began to hand out the materia to the highest ranking officers. "You are all now under my control, but you will continue you're regular training excersizes until we prepare the final stages of our assualt." The general barreled his burly frame out the door, leaving his soldiers to play with their new materia.  
  
The officers each lined up in the practice center, each one trying out the Ultima materia.  
  
"Incredable."  
  
"Amazing."  
  
"I just can't believe it!"  
  
"So much power..."  
  
But the materia did have its toll. Normal materia detracted slightly from one's stamina, and repeated uses could result in a comma, although that had only happened in one case, where a single Cetra took out an half a Demon camp before going into a comma and being ruthlessly slaughted and displayed by the evil creatures.  
  
Yet, the Ultima seemed to drain the user's stamin ten times as fast. Soldiers were retiring hours earlier than they usually did, feeling a little queasy.  
  
General Aden watched as the soldiers each had their turn, and decided they should all become accustomed to the Ultima materia, so he began to sechedule as many practice sessions as he could without wearing his troops so ragged to the point they wouldn't be able to fight. And then he gave them all a week to rest.  
  
---  
  
Finally the day of the assualt came. General Aden prepared his troop, coordinating his efforts with at least 7 other troops who met them on the way. They all held their heads high, and marched with a new sense of hope.  
  
At first, they had thought the war was utterly hopeless, until they started using materia as a weapon, rather than as an everyday tool. The tides of the war quickly changed, and the Cetra became the dominant species upon the Planet. And now, the Cetra were finally on the offense, and they were going into the Demon home base.  
  
The Demons had always been the most destructive and threatening force of the four. And the Cetra felt that if they could take them out, they could easily win the war.  
  
The troops marched, their baggy pants never seemed to get in their way, and it put little restriction upon the in battle. In fact some went as far to say as it was helpful. No one actually knew for sure, but it was traditional attire, and everyone seemed to wear it.  
  
More than 15,000 hands reached down and plucked a green materia from their belts. In turn, the other 134,000 troops reached down and grabbed a green orb of their own. Obviously of lesser power, but still a major role in the attack.  
  
The Demons could be seen in the distance. Huge numbers of them. Rank after rank after rank. All charging straight toward the marching Cetra.  
  
They readied their materia, all began glowing, charging. And then they waited. And waited. The troops became uneasy, and some began to wonder if the General had gone into shock at the shear numbers the Demons were bringing at them.  
  
"Ready men!" Aden suddenly broke the silence of words, but not of noisee. For the terrible noise of the Demons battle cry rang out as their foots pounded the ground as if some horrid hatred exsited between the two.  
  
The first 15,000 materia's began to grow brighter as the Ultima spells began to unleash their horror upon the ranks of Demons.  
  
---  
  
Simon watched as thousands, tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of Demons were killed. They were murdered. Slaughtered. Mutilated. Yet they still charged. They charged still as a third and fourth waves of Ultima hit them. Then he watched as still thousands more were burnt and charred into dust.  
  
He watched as his race won the war. He watched for weeks. And it only took a few more. The Cetra charged all the important places of the Gargoyles, the Demons, and the Titans. One by one all of the other three races fell. One by one each member of their short lived society was killed.  
  
He was given permission by the Council to colonize the Planet. He created the women and sent them down to mate with the men and create a civilization.  
  
What he didn't know was that some Cetra were evolving. And they weren't evolving into the regular, peaceful hearted, kind-minded Cetra.  
  
  
__--End-Chapter 1--__  
  
  
Author's Notes: Obviously if you're reading these you've just read the first chapter of my fic. In this chapter I laid down the War13342 and the background of the Cetra. Not the most exciting of chapters eh? Well, my forte isn't exactly war scenes etc. Too much to concentrate on. If any fights I prefer them one on one. Or at least enough that you can concentrate on all the characters in the battle without become lost.  
  
So, this was just another background chapter. The real story will get going in Chapter 2. So look forward to it hopefully pretty soon. 


	3. Her name is Aeris

General Aden sat solemly in a chair. He was in a quiet room occupied by no one but himself. No one called him General any longer. The war was over.  
  
We have won. His quiet thoughts making no intrusion on the silence floating about the room. I must start a new life. We army people are no longer needed.  
  
He scooted his chair back, standing abruptly and militarily. He walked briskly to the front door, and stood their hesiteiting. His hand grasped the gleeming knob.  
  
I must start over. He opened the door and a blast of warm air smashed into him. He blinked his eyes a few times and took a step past the threshold of the door.  
  
He looked right and left, watching children run and play in the streets.  
  
Children. He thought mildly. Just a few years ago there were none. He watched as a couple walked down the busy street, hand in hand.  
  
He walked down the street, following in the flow of people, and slowly made his way to the park. He quickly found himself a small hill and sat against one of its sides, looking up at the sky.  
  
He looked at the clouds, the first time that he could remember ever looking at them. Since his childhood he had been born and raised a fighting man. Everyone he knew had. But now everyone seemed to be getting a real life. Except me. He thought coldly.  
  
The clouds looked so peaceful. He tore his eyes away from the beautiful objects and looked out across the park. So many people were playing and having fun.  
  
He watched as a few girls three some kind of disc around. It seemed to float and hang in the air. Inginuity. That's what described his race. It was only a few years ago that they had developed the most advanced weaponary ever seen. The materia. But now they were putting their creative minds to different uses.  
  
He had had his eye upon a girl when he was only a boy, but he doubted he would ever click with her. Besides, she's probably already found a man to settle down with.  
  
He got up from his resting place slowly, resolving to find her. To find Joulee.  
  
He paced through the streets, his eyes for the first time taking in the scenery, and the faces. So many faces. All were knew to him. He had never taken the time to remember a face, for he thought that it would die and leave him like all the rest.  
  
However, after only a few hours, he found himself back at home, his search had been for nothing.  
  
"I have lost this battle." He said outloud, speaking to no one but himself, "But I will not loose the war."  
  
---  
  
Joulee sat in the park, plucking the pettles from a small flower, thinking of things past. She sat by a well built man, who seemed to be eyeing the girls sitting in a circle down the path aways.  
  
She noticed this, and plucked the last pettle. She knew that ever since the war had started her life had gone down hill.  
  
She had lost the only one she had ever been close to, her parents having died at a young age. He gone away to war. Like all the rest of them. And now she had settled down with a man, a man that paid no heed to her, and gave her no respect.  
  
A typical Cetra who had dodged the draft and thought so highly of himself afterward. She looked out over the crowd of people, trying to pick out someone who might be right for her.  
  
But the search was never easy, and she had been for so long. Since before the war ever ended. Her mind flashed back to a memory from childhood.  
  
((-Flash-))  
  
A field of lushious green grass wavered slightly in the small breeze. Joulee lay relaxed next to her soon to be husband. Or at least that was how she looked at it.  
  
His name was Aden. She recalled.  
  
Aden tickled her a little and the small Joulee laughed and rolled over, trying not so hard to escape the wonderful feeling of pure joy.  
  
Aden chuckled as wall, grabbing her gently and rolling her back over, tickling her slightly on her bare toes.  
  
Joulee giggled again, and ruffled Aden's hair.  
  
"You know, I'm getting it cut tomarrow." He said blantly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm goin to the military. To fight in the war."  
  
Joulee suddenly found herself clinging to him. "No! You can't got Aden! Please..."  
  
"Why not?" His inquisitive voice rang out in pure ignorance.  
  
"Because, everyone I know that has gone to the war-" She choked back a sob.  
  
"What?"  
  
"They're gone. All of them."  
  
He looked at her, raising an eyebrow slightly. She had always told him she was alone, but never why.  
  
"Are you making up excuses to make me stay?" He asked, his voice somewhat less imposing this time.  
  
"No!" She yelled, hugging him tightly. "I don't want you to go!"  
  
"But I gotta get famous! And then I can come back and everyone will notice."  
  
"What if you don't come back."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Come on, you gotta promise!"  
  
"Alright, I promise..."  
  
((-Flash-))  
  
She watched another burly man stride down the walkway. He looked up at her briefly, and then continued walking. The face seemed to strike a tone of resemblance in her mind. Yet, she just sat there and watched him walk off.  
  
He turned around once more, looking at her for a moment longer. He stood their frozen for a minute, and then continued walking.  
  
---  
  
Aden continued to have haunting dreams that night about the girl he had seen in the park.  
  
She was so lovely, so fresh.  
  
He knew he wanted her, but did that mean abandoning his search for Joulee? And that guy she was with.  
  
He decided to sleep on it and drifted quietly off.  
  
---  
  
A sudden rap on the door awoke Aden, his military training was wearing off. Everyday he seemed to wake up later and later.  
  
Maybe I'm just getting old. He thought as he struggled to put some pants on.  
  
Another rap.  
  
"I'm coming!" He yelled as one foot got stuck and he began to hop around on one foot, trying to get the stubborn pants on.  
  
The knock was louder this time and longer.  
  
"I'm coming!!" He yelled again. But as he struggled with the pants he accidently fell over, and the door suddenly burst open.  
  
The young girl from the park stood in the door way, looking down on Aden, who had one leg in the pants, and the other half way in.  
  
Aden turned a bright red as he struggled to get up and out of sight, all while trying to get the pants on. And Joulee turned red as well, giggling in amusment.  
  
After a few minutes Aden reappeared fully dressed in front of Joulee.  
  
"Can I help you miss?" He asked polietly, instantly recognizing her as the girl from yesterday, but no more.  
  
"I was, just wondering...Oh I'm not to sure... I just saw you at the park yesterday, and you caught my attention."  
  
"Oh, I uh see..." He said, his face going somewhat red again.  
  
"You look familiar." She said, slowly walking around him, inspecting him carefully.  
  
He simply looked back at her quizickly.  
  
"You just remind me of someone I once knew." She sighed.  
  
"As do you..." He said after a moment, starring into her deep eyes.  
  
"What's your name?" She asked.  
  
"Aden." He said reluctenly after a moment.  
  
"Really?" She asked, eyeing him some more.  
  
"And your name?"  
  
"Joulee." She said somewhat quicker.  
  
He tried not to let the surprise show on his face.  
  
Perhaps this her her! He thought gleefully.  
  
"Mind if I come in?" She asked.  
  
"Oh! Of course! Come in come in!" He replied quickly. He showed her to the sofa and gave her sat her down. He sat in the chair opposite it.  
  
"I don't suppose you knew someone by my name when you were a childhood?" Aden jump started the conversation.  
  
"Actually I did...And you? Did you know someone named Joulee?"  
  
"Yes, infact I did."  
  
"Then perhaps, we are they." She said after a moment.  
  
He suddenly got up, and sat down next to her, but not sittin to closely so as not to make her uncomforatable. But she instantly scooted closer.  
  
"You're really him aren't you?"  
  
Aden simply tickled her lightly.  
  
She giggled throwing her arms about him and grasping him in a hug.  
  
Tears streaked her face as she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"You never came back!" She said, punching him lightly in the shoulder.  
  
"I'm here now aren't I?" Aden asked, gripping her in his own arms.  
  
"Yes, and I suppose that's all that matters."  
  
---  
  
Aden and Joulee lay in bed together. It had been more than a year since their fateful reunion. And now they were living together. Marrie din unison.  
  
"I love you Aden." She whispered into the night.  
  
"I love you too sweety." Aden had relaxed more than ten times in that single year than he had relaxed the six years after the war. His mood was almost always light now, and a smile was almost always seen on his face.  
  
They had moved to a friendly neighborhood and had built a house of their own.  
  
"What are we going to call her?" She suddenly asked, piercing the night with the question.  
  
"I don't know." He replied softly, thinking inwardly of names to call her.  
  
"We still have a few more months." She stated, starring at the ceiling.  
  
Aden rested his hand on her belly. It had become more and more round, yet he hadn't found her any less attractive. Sometimes he thought himself strange for that, but knew that inside her belly was a beautiful baby girl waiting to be born.  
  
"Have you heard about the New Ones?" He asked, breaking the silence once again.  
  
"Of course." She said somewhat groggily.  
  
"They say that they're building their own city."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Midgar they're calling it."  
  
"Midgar?"  
  
"Yes, seems somewhat bland if you ask me."  
  
"Yea..."  
  
"We still have to think of a name..."  
  
"I love you honey..."  
  
"I love you too..."  
  
---  
  
Simon was furious. He couldn't believe what the council was doing.   
  
He stomped around the bridge of his ship furiously.  
  
"DAMNIT!!" He yelled, bashing his fist into the wall.  
  
The coucil had decided his race had become to powerful and must be put into check.  
  
He had told them countless times they were a race of peace, and that they would never harm anyone. But the council had made their own species, one that could utilize the Mako and the Lifestream on the Planet.  
  
But he knew deep down they hadn't made the interaction work to its fullest, but none-the-less, it could still pose a major problem in the evolution of the Cetra.  
  
He smashed his fist into the bulkhead again.  
  
They had already started settling on the Planet. Building their own city.  
  
Midgar.  
  
A technological center for this new unnamed race. It was said to be a lower breed of himself and his people.   
  
He had watched the viewscreen for countless hours. Monitoring his precious Cetra. They're calling them the New Ones. He thought dully. Perhaps they think they will have to fight them too? He wasn't sure.  
  
He wasn't sure of anything anymore.   
  
But suddenly an idea popped into his head.  
  
"I will live with them!" He spoke it aloud, although not meaning to.  
  
"I will go live with my Cetra. And I will help them make it through! I will see this project works, and that my people learn peace from my Cetra."  
  
"Sir, that's not advisable." One of his crewmen stated blatently.  
  
"I know what's advisable and what's not. I am the advisor. I will decide what to do and what not to do. And I must stop the council from reuning so many centuries of research."  
  
The crewman nodde slightly and backed away a step.  
  
"My Cetra aren't meant to be a fighting race, and I'm not sure if they are willing any more. They were programmed to fight the first war, but they have evolved past that."  
  
He stopped for a breath.  
  
Then he pointed to a figure. "Roulig! Ready my personal pod!"  
  
"Yes!" Roulig slipped away and began preperations.  
  
"This will of course be against the Council, so anyone not willing to help with this note it in your logs and you can stay confined to your quarters until we are either captured or until we win this little scrimage."  
  
No one moved.  
  
"All right then. Perhaps I will see you later. Perhaps not. I may die down there, and if I do, I want you all to carry on my research. Please, for me. And for the Cetra."  
  
Still no one budged.  
  
And then Roulig stepped out of the crowd.  
  
"It's ready sir."  
  
"Thank you Roulig."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
Simon quickly moved forward and opened the hatch to his pod, and then stepped slowly through.  
  
"Goodbye." He said, as it closed.  
  
The launch bay seeled itself, and then opened to space.  
  
The ship blasted out and toward the Planet.  
  
The atmosphere burned at it, trying to stop it. But, it penetrated through.  
  
Then it struck the surface, making a small crater. A scar perhaps. But it would heal.  
  
The hatched opened, and Simon stepped out, smelling the beautiful air for the first time in more than 7 years.  
  
---  
  
"I believe we have a name for her." Joulee addressed the happy doctor. Aden had his hand around Joulee's waist, a smile on his face as well.  
  
"Oh really?" The doctor asked, looking at the happy couple. It reminded him of himself and his own wife. "What is it?"  
  
"Aeris." 


	4. Two people. Two paths.

Chapter 3   
  
  
Simon sat completely still. His face set in stone. His eyes were glaring at a man who sat across from him.   
  
"They sent you. Why?"   
  
The man simply smiled. It was an arrogant smile. A smile often used against people of lower intellects.   
  
"Not gonna answer?" Simon pulled out a gun. "How about now?"   
  
The man finally decided answering would be best. "The council sent me here to deal with you."   
  
"With me?" Simon suddenly snapped up.   
  
"They knew you came down to the surface. And they know you've been living here for quite some time now Simon."   
  
"If they know that, then do they know why I came?"   
  
"Yes. You wanted to stop us from taking over your precious Planet."   
  
Simon tried to break the man's calm cool cover with a piercing stare. But to no avail.   
  
"Simon, you can't stop us. We are going to destroy the Cetra. And I am going to lead them."   
  
"You address me by my name, and yet I still don't know yours."   
  
"Why should I tell you my name?" The man crossed his fingers and rest his elbows upon the table seperating the two.   
  
Simon aimed his gun casually.   
  
"You're bluffing." The man said, looking down the barrel of the gun.   
  
"Am I?" Simon replied just as casually.   
  
"Yes." The man said as he put one finger on the side of the gun and slowly pushed it away. "You are."   
  
Simon just starred, trying to read the man's eyes. But he couldn't. They were set in stone, completely lacking of any emotion. Only his face held a slight grin. Perhaps because of Simon's uncomfortable position.   
  
Simon spat at the man. "You won't lie long down here."   
  
"May I inquire as to why?"   
  
"This is my world. These are my people."   
  
The man waved his arms about, trying to convey the fact that they were inside MIdgar, and that it was populated by his people, and not Simon's.   
  
Simon simply spat again. And then he spun and left.   
  
Another man entered the room.   
  
"Gast? Who was that?"   
  
"He is one of us."   
  
The newly entered man starred. "One of us? Oh! The man we were sent to destroy as a side objective."   
  
"Exactly."   
  
"Does he pose a threat."   
  
"A partial one. Nothing to worry about."   
  
The other nodded. "And when shall we begin our experiments."   
  
"We have already began." Gast replied.   
  
"Have we?"   
  
"We have."   
  
"How?"   
  
"I have already found a few subjects on the pathetic Planet for testing. They are in Lab Sub Level 3." He chuckled slightly.   
  
The other rubbed his hands together with vigor. "Excellent." A sickening smile appeared on the man's face as he trotted off.   
  
Gast sat for a moment longer, thinking of who to begin on, and what to try first.   
  
----   
  
Aden smiled happily as he watched his baby girl playing with the simple child toys.   
  
She soon lost intrust and struggled to her feet, only to fall to her knees and begin crawling along the carpet.   
  
Joulee sat in the sofa beside Aden, her arm around him, his arm around her, both smiling with joy and happiness.   
  
It never occured to them that a new war was on the brink of the horizon, threatening to destroy everything they had fought for and won in the first. Threatening to destroy the very Planet that they set their feet upon every day. Threatening to destroy the lives that so many and worked so hard to create.   
  
But the signs of the war were beginning to spread. They were beginning to be noticed by a select few in high places.   
  
A sharp rap was heard. A fist banging against the wood of the door.   
  
Aden carefully lifted himself to his feet and made his way to the door, careful not to stub his toe, or step his anything that happened to be strewn about he walkway.   
  
The door opened as Aden unlatched it.   
  
A man stood there. He was a burly man. Large and well-built. He obviously worked out often, his muscles bulged even inside his loose fitting suit. Which was the military standard; Dark green and black.   
  
"General Aden?"   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"The Cetra Military is recalling all military personel. You are required to return to your duties immediately."   
  
"What?!" Aden's face took on a grim expression, one of dispair and sorrow.   
  
Joulee had heard the coversation and was now at her husband's side. "Why does he have to go back? The war has been over for years!"   
  
"Yes it has." The man replied, his voice quick and sharp. "But, a new threat is arrising and we are in need of an army. Your husband is a part of that army and is required to come with me."   
  
"I do not wish to return to the battlefield. The will to fight no longer courses through my viens."   
  
The man simply starred at the General.   
  
"What if I refuse?"   
  
The man reached into his suit and when his hand returned to the open air a gun was in it.   
  
"This is a tranquilized gun. I will shoot it at you and your wife. And then I will take you with me and you will fight for us."   
  
"That doesn't sound like much fun to me..."   
  
Tears were now welling up in his wife's eyes, and he could see the same dispair in them that had overtaken him only a few minutes ago.   
  
But in his heart he knew there was no escaping this. He knew that even if he was able to take down this guy, more would come. They always would. They would take him away from the life he had worked so hard to build. The would force him to fight. Force him to kill to protect his life. Force him to kill to prevent death. Death to prevent Death.   
  
The irony of the situation almost brought a smile to the General's face. But instead he looked to his wife with grim resolution. His path was set and there was nothing he could do to change it.   
  
Perhaps his path had been predetermined by destany, a cruel fate. He was lead to believe that the rest of his life would be lived out in peace, and then, when he was least excpecting it, he would be called to his death.   
  
He felt his death this time. He would not survive the battles of this war. His will to kill, to survive, to fight. They were all gone. And his wife knew it.   
  
She was now in tears, her violent sobs shaking her body. THe sickening feeling in her stomach making her want to throw up or die.   
  
And still the large man stood as solid as stone, unphased by the outbrake of emotion that seemed to be charging the air.   
  
It was interesting that so much feeling could transend between two people without any exchange of words.   
  
Perhaps death, or the knowing of one's death made it possible. No one could be certain, but the General's memory gave way to blankness as he was taken away by the man, his wife weeping on the door step, his baby crying inside his house.   
  
His numb emotions registered nothing as he was hauled into an army vehicle and taken away from the few posessions he had, and the two things he had ever loved.   
  
The thought of suiced filled him.   
  
His mind tried to fight back. I have to at least TRY to live! To at least TRY to return to my family. But Fate seemed to have chosen him already. It seemed to have him stamped and ready to be shipped to the afterlife.   
  
He tried to shrug these emotions, these thoughts, he tried to shrug them all off. He tried to concentrate on how to live.   
  
  
  
---   
  
"What is this subject's name?"   
  
"What does it matter?" Gast replied to his apprentice.   
  
"How shall I address him without a name? How shall I speak of him to others without a name?"   
  
"You need not speak of him to others. And you need not address him for now."   
  
"But still, he must have a name!"   
  
"Then you may dig through his records and find it for yourself."   
  
"Are you sure that we should be using these, these...*children* for our tests?"   
  
"I see no reason why we shouldn't."   
  
The other shrugged, deciding to let it go.   
  
"Are you going to find his name?"   
  
The apprentice nodded slightly and walked over to a pile of folders.   
  
The top one read: "Project.1 - Planet.13342 - Species.53368 - Specimen.3"   
  
He opened it carefully, a picture of the boy was inside. He was an odd looking thing. The silver hair being the most striking feature. And such piercing eyes. But his eyes would change. Gast had said so.   
  
He looked through a few folders until he finally stumbled upon the name.   
  
"Sephiroth." He said aloud. "But where is his last name?"   
  
"Does he need one?" Gast retorted.   
  
"I suppose not."   
  
"Then you suppose right."   
  
Gast leaned over the boy, who was sedated and restrained upon a table. Tubes ran into the boys arms and legs and nose.   
  
"Begin the infusion."   
  
"The mako first?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"And then the J-Cells."   
  
"Yes." Gast nodded with pleasure as he watched the liquid enter the boys body. He watched as the Cetra body began to spasm. He did nothing. Neither did his apprentice.   
  
The simply watched.   
  
"The Perfect Soldier..."   
  
---   
  
The Sephiroth experiment seemed to be going according to plan, and so the scientists began work on infusing some of the species that had been sent down by the council.   
  
The first two Subjects went the same way. Both ended up dead.   
  
But the third had survive. He was a strong boy. His spikey black hair seemed to indicate his strong will. Stiff and unmoving.   
  
"So this is the one?" Gast looked at the boy. "Kind of puny."   
  
"Yes this is him."   
  
"Where is Hojo?"   
  
"He said he had business to attend to."   
  
Gast's face showed his disbelief. "What's his name?   
  
"His name sir?"   
  
"Must I repeat myself."   
  
"It's just that you never used to ask for a name..."   
  
"I've changed."   
  
"Zackery."   
  
"Hummm." Gast rubbed his chin slightly.   
  
"Proffesor is there anything you need?"   
  
"Yes. I have been thinking of a new experiment."   
  
The other stood and waited for Gast to continue. His patience much practiced in the Doctor's presence.   
  
"Rather than continue to infuse subject after subject and come out with varying results, I believe it would be much quicker and much more efficient to clone a subject that was successful and strong."   
  
"But Professor, we tried cloning Sephiroth...and I suppose you remember how that turned out."   
  
"Yes, yes. Of course I remember. But Sephiroth was a Cetra, we were ignorant in that area. This one is one of us." He motioned to Zack.   
  
"Then, I shall get the cloning instruments now?"   
  
Gast turned his back to the boy, and began to leave the room, "Yes, ready the cloning procedure, I am going to find Hojo."   
  
---   
  
General Aden looked at the battle plan grimly. Rather then sit back and wait for the attack, the Cetra Army had been ordered to go on the offensive. Not something the General had thought the Cetra would ever do.   
  
But, as he looked at the plan, he thought that this might be the best course of action.   
  
The General sat calmly, completely contrasting his former figure that had wished so much not to leave his safe and secure home.   
  
A camera sat fixated in the corner of the room, its electronic eye watching Aden. Flowing back through the wires, the picture appeared in front of a couple of seated men. They were assigned to watch Aden, and to make sure that the brainwash had gone to plan.   
  
The Army couldn't afford to loose this General. He had been one of the key personel from the first Planetary war. But when they had recieved him in preperation for the second, he was a changed man.   
  
He had become a family man. A caring man. One who's heart had been turned back to flesh. And the two men that now sat clamly watching himself had been ordered to destroy that flesh and blood heart. To return it to its stony origin.   
  
They had done as they were ordered, without a remorse in their own hearts they had carried out their orders.   
  
And now the General was once again carrying out his. He had been studing battle plans for the last five hours. Trying to decide on the best course of action against the enemy.   
  
The suggestion for the offensive strike had been brought about by one of the General's former underlings. They were all now major parts of the Army. And they had all helped in redeveloping the armarment for the army. And now they were ready.   
  
They simply waited for the General's word. Then it would be reviewed by the people behind the desks. Then it would be sent out amongst the ranks. Then the ranks would prepare themselves for battle and send themselves out into the battlefield. Dieing for their cause, killing for their cause.   
  
But it didn't bother the General anymore. Nothing did. He wasn't sure why. But he didn't ponder the train of thought for more than a second. His mind was concentrating on determining the best targets to attack, and the most volitale ways of doing it.   
  
His first impression was to destroy the main producer of the enemy. The Shinra. They were the ones who held control over the city of Midgar. They were the ones who were going to form their army and retailate against the General's attack.   
  
He decided upon a plan. Looking once more over the map, the predetermined routes, and the strikes, and folded it up.   
  
He stuck it lightly under his left arm, and briskly walked out of the small room. He marched silently to the main office of the building he know resided in. He then handed the paper to a man sitting behind a desk. The man took it. No exchange of words were used, only a quick nod by the man and then General left.   
  
He strode back to his quarters and sat on his bed. His altered mind made no attempt to bring back the memories of his wife or of his child. It simply thought coldly of the war that was about to break out. It calculated moves, positions, ways to destroy the enemy quickly and efficiently.   
  
However his mind tired of the thinking and he lay himself flat along the bed, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Calm and at ease.   
  
---   
  
Joulee sat dully on the couch. Aeris was crying in the room next door. Joulee had tried everything. Nothing had worked. Was the only conclusion that her mind could fathom.   
  
Joulee herself began to weep silently. Her body was racked by the silent sobs. Her eyes drooped as her lack of sleep began to overtake her. The combined sobbing and need for sleep slowly overcame her, and soon she found herself unconsious upon the floor.   
  
---   
  
"HOJO! GAST!" The cry came from above.   
  
"What has happened know?" Sighed the tired scientist.   
  
Hojo looked at Gast, silently regarding him. "Keep your thoughts to yourself."   
  
"Hojo, what has gotten into you? Why have you become so- so..." He stopped, his loss of words apprent.   
  
But before the grim scientist could reply the door burst open.   
  
"THE WAR HAS STARTED!" Cried the hysterical man.   
  
"What?!"   
  
"No! Not yet, we haven't finished yet!" Gast ran his fingers through his scragley, and not-so-recently washed hair.   
  
"Assemble the SOLDIERS." Hojo replied, somewhat more composed then his fellow.   
  
The man nodded as he ran back out the door and up the stairs.   
  
"The SOLDIERS haven't been completely finished." Groaned the tired Gast.   
  
"Just because they can not use materia yet does not mean they won't win this fight."   
  
"I suppose you are right as usual Hojo."   
  
"Of course I am."   
  
"What about Sephiroth? Do you think he can fight?"   
  
"He is still but a boy Professor."   
  
"But what if this is an all or nothing gamble by the Cetra? What if they are throwing all their forces at us at once. It would make sense to have Sephiroth on the battle field."   
  
"He is still a boy Gast! A boy can't fight a man's war!"   
  
"He is different than you and I dear Hojo. I have dedicated my life to creating this simple boy! He is more powerful than you can imagine!"   
  
"I have helped you create this monster Gast, I know his power. But a boy can't harness this power! He simply would cower in the corner!"   
  
Gast lowered his head. "Send him out anyway. He must gain experience at the very least."   
  
Hojo looked at the man piercingly. His thoughts distracted him for the moment,   
  
"Send him out." Gast snarled as Hojo merely stood there, unmoving.   
  
"Alright. But I warned you."   
  
"Whatever."   
  
---   
  
Sephiroth looked at the blade that his "father" had just given him.   
  
"What do I need this for?" He returned, spinning the blade around in his hand.   
  
It was a small blade, but large for his size. Hojo knew that Gast was trying to prepare him for the Masamune.   
  
"You are going to use it to kill people."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because that's what you do."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Why else would you be here."   
  
Sephiroth shrugged.   
  
"Will you do it?"   
  
The boy looked back at the only figure he could look up to beside Gast. "Do I have a choice, his eyes were now that of a Mako infused SOLDIER, yet they retained their peircing prospects.   
  
Hojo simply smiled and led Sephiroth out of the room.   
  
He led him up the winding stairs and through the desolate laboratory.   
  
Sephiroth looked out into the city's night. He saw flashes of green, and the blazes of red.   
  
"Where is Zack?" The boy looked around for his childhood playmate.   
  
"Zack is not yet prepared for battle." Hojo replied as Gast watched in the background.   
  
"I won't fight without him." The Mako eyes glew with resignation.   
  
Hojo knew that there was no changing the boy's mind once it was made up. He signlaed for Gast to retrieve the subject, and he in turn signaled for one of his underlings to do it for him.   
  
The black spikey's of the boys hair were soon seen as he was led to the boy with silver hair by Gast.   
  
Sephiroth looked the boy up and down, noticing his blade. Zack's was thicker, but not as long as Sephiroth's.   
  
"Why do we have to fight?" Zack suddenly asked pleadingly.   
  
Hojo looked at him sternly. "You boys are sure full of a lot of questions. Do as you're told. Don't ask questions. And then you will get your medication for the day."   
  
The two looked sadly at each other, they knew that this was a harsh punishment. Without their daily treatment of Mako they went into a state of withdrawl. It was a horrid thing to watch, and much much worse to live through.   
  
Sephiroth drew waved his sword around, "And what if I kill you where you stand Hojo?"   
  
"Then you and your friend would be shot into trillion pieces by the Shinra Guards Gast over there would call almost instanly.   
  
Sephiroth simply shrugged.   
  
"Now go boys. Go kill some Cetra."   
  
They shrugged in unison this time as they sprinted away into the night.   
  
"Gast, if you're wrong, we just ordered those two to their deaths."   
  
"And if I'm right?"   
  
"Then we've just started creating the two best killers anyone has ever seen."   
  
"I'm right."   
  
"I know."   
  
---   
  
Zack strove to keep up with his older "brother". Sephiroth was a good bit faster than him. But he had been on the Mako longer. Of course he was faster, stronger, and smarter. But Zack wasn't far behind.   
  
They heard screams and explosions not far ahead. Flashes of fire, ice, and lightning were seen. As were the burst of flame given off by the muzzle of a gun.   
  
The two arrived onto a seen of dead bodies. The battle had moved farther on.   
  
Sephiroth looked down at the bodies, completely unphased, but Zack puked. Sephiroth chuckled slightly. "Puke now and you won't have to when you're the one making these bodies the way they are."   
  
FlashFlash Zack thought, relieved. Anger rose up in Zack's blood. In that instance he decided he would not return. No matter how bad the withdrawl was, he was never going back to Hojo. He would no return to evil.   
  
But in these thoughts, wonder arose. Wonder of what he was doing.   
  
He did his best to bandage Sephiroth's wounds. Then, he set out, away from the battle. Away from the death. And the killing. He just wanted to be away.   
  
---   
  
Hojo sat in silence. His fingers were steepled together.   
  
"You were wrong." He suddenly said, starring down his once mentor.   
  
"Only partly."   
  
"One of our expirements is gone. The other is having trouble recovering, ever with his Mako enhancements."   
  
"We have the first's cells. We can clone him. And the other will recover. And he is now stronger and more experienced."   
  
"It was still a failure."   
  
"On the contrary, we won the battle."   
  
"Hardly."   
  
"They retreated didn't they?"   
  
"We lost twice as many troops as they. It was our buildings that were being destroyed in the cross fire. Our innocent pedestrians that could become future SOLDIERS that were dying."   
  
"..."   
  
Hojo shook his head, clasping it in his hands now. "Hopefully they will not return for a while. Hopefully they are hurt as well, and we will have time to repair the damage."   
  
"We have to speed up our work. We must create the perfect SOLDIER before they return."   
  
"Then let's get to work."   
  
---   
  
Joulee rocked herself in the officer's arms. It wasn't often that an officer of the army took the time to come out to a residentiel area unless they were recruiting. Almost never merely to tell of a deceased one.   
  
Yet he sat silently, doing his best to comfort the poor woman.   
  
"I can't do it." She sobbed.   
  
"Do what ma'am?"   
  
"I can't take care of her!"   
  
"Ma'am?"   
  
"My baby! My little girl! My baby Aeris."   
  
"What would you like me to do ma'am?"   
  
"Take her."   
  
"What?"   
  
"Take her somewhere where she can live in peace and happiness. Where she can by raised by normal parents."   
  
"Ma'am...I don't know..."   
  
The door suddenly burst open. Muzzles flashed as bullets flew. Screaming. More bullets were heard throughout the neighborhood. Crying.   
  
One of the soldiers grabbed the crying baby and took her back with him.   
  
More muzzles flashed as the last of the inhabitants were killed. They never had a chance.   
  
---   
  
"How are our surprise attacks doing?"   
  
"All ten targets have been completely wiped out."   
  
"Now they're on their toes."   
  
"Yes, now their forces are spread throughout their towns to protect them. Now is the time we attack their military bases."   
  
"Yes sir."   
  
---   
  
A small baby was deposited on a desolate doorsteps. It's cries echoed throughout the night. And rustling inside the house was soon heard.   
  
Foorsteps padded softly down the stairs and soon opened the door. The baby girl continued to scream.   
  
The middle aged woman looked down, shocked. She picked the baby up, craddling her in her arms.   
  
"Shhh...Shhh..." She whispered into the night soothingly. "Elmyra's here to take care of you."   
  
A woman looked out from the night. "Take care of her." She said.   
  
Elmyra looked up. "What, who's there?"   
  
"Please! Take care of my baby!" The woman's voice was desperate.   
  
"Why? What's going on?"   
  
"No time to explain. But, Please! take care of her! Her name is Aeris!"   
  
"What's your name?"   
  
The woman paused, seemingly unable to answer.   
  
"You can call me Ilfalna." The name was false. The woman who stood there was Joulee, she was trying to cover, and she didn't know why.   
  
"Why must she stay here?"   
  
"I can no longer take care of her." Blood seemed to drip from several wounds on the woman.   
  
"Let me get you help!"   
  
"NO! You mustn't. You'd only endager yourself. Just take care of her!" And then Joulee sprinted off.   
  
Elmyra looked down at the small child, who had ceased her endless crying.   
  
"You poor thing." She stroked the baby's face softly. "Aeris." She repeated the name the woman had given her.   
  
"I will." She whispered back into the night. "I will take care of her. I'll raise her like she was my own."   
  
And then she entered the house, closing the door quietly behind her.


	5. Escape Times Two

A small girl was kneeling in the freshly turned dirt, her hands busying themselves with the task of taking care of the flowers. They were beautiful flowers, their majestic colors arranged in patterns to make looking at the small garden that much more enjoyable.  
  
She hummed a tune she had learned from her mother. As she knelt she suddenly felt the presence of being watched. Looking up quickly she spotted a boy with black hair. He looked to be slightly older than she was, but he also appeared shaky and weak.  
  
She stood up abruptly, titled her head to the side and asked, "Are you hurt?"  
  
The boy grinned slightly, but it wasn't really a grin, more an upturning of one corner of his mouth. And that was all, he suddenly fainted, falling away from the post that had been supporting him.  
  
The girl rushed over to the boy's side, turning him onto his back. She checked his breath, whiched seemed slightly eratic, but she sighed as she realized he was still alive.  
  
She propped him up with one arm, and rested his head upon her knee. And for the first time she was able to study his face. It was soft and carrying, but it seemed to lack the wholesome look of a well fed boy.  
  
She set him down gently and ran into the nearby house.  
  
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" She yelled as she burst through the door.  
  
"AERIS?!?! AERIS, WHAT'S WRONG?!?!" Aeris' mother came rushing down the stairs, taking them three at a time.  
  
"Mommy!! There'sthisboyoutsideandIwasjustplantingsomenewflowerswhensuddenlyIsawhimandhelookedback atmeandthenhesuddenlyfelltothegroundandIrushedovertohimandhewasstillbreathingbutIdon't knowwhattodoknowmommy!Pleasecomehelp!!" Her words were rushed and mingled together, almost undistinguishable.  
  
But Elmyra simple took Aeris's hand and she seemed to get the picture, for as soon as the grasp between the two hands was firm, she practically dragged her out into the garden.  
  
Elmyra knelt down by the boy, immediatly noticing his lack of weight.  
  
She felt his forhead, checked his pulse, and then picked him up from the ground and carried him inside.  
  
Laying the boy down on the couch she turned back to Aeris. "You really scared me that time Aeris."  
  
"I'm sorry mommy, I just didn't know what to do, and I didn't want him to die."  
  
"He's not going to die. He'll be alright if we simply let him rest and give him some food and water."  
  
"I'll feed him! I'll feed him!" She jumped up and down, squealing with joy. Elmyra simply grinned back at the small girl.  
  
"Alrighty dear, you do that. When he wakes up though don't be too rough with him."  
  
But Aeris was already racing towards the kitchen to began ravaging for the supplies she would be needing.  
  
Elmyra grinned again and then decided to resume her nap upstairs.  
  
Aeris brought back a tall glass of water and an assorted plate of a few different foods. She knelt down by the boy and waited. She had learned patience very well with the help of Elmyra, but still her anxious personality seemed to demand that the boy wake up immediatly.  
  
But rather than violently shake the boy she simple waited.  
  
---  
  
After sometime the boy finally stirred, his eyes fluttering open. "Wh-Where am I? What happened?" His eyes focused on the girl knelt next to him. Her eyes were closed and her head was bent down.  
  
Then he saw the food. His stomach growled and his brain suddenly remember how hungry he was. He quickly devoured the contents of the plate, and downed the glass of water in record times.  
  
After his appitite was slightly quenched he looked back to the girl. "Hello?"  
  
Suddenly she blinked her eyes open and her head shot up.  
  
"You're awake!" She cried.  
  
"Yep...I guess so..."  
  
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.  
  
"I...uh...Thank you."  
  
"For what?" She said as she released him.  
  
"For the food, and shelter."  
  
"Oh." She grinned with glea. "Of course!" She looked down at the empty plate, and back up at the boy. "You still hungry."  
  
He nodded sheepishly, not really wanting to impose, but his stomach wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
Her grin grew as she lept up and raced back into the kitchen, clamouring about, trying to fix up the boy a feast. Then, she carefully balanced the food and brought it back in.  
  
She set it down on the ground and watched as he devoured the food once again. The grin never left her face.  
  
"So, what's your name?" She asked as he finished off his meal.  
  
"Zack." He said through a mouth full of food.  
  
"I'm Aeris." Her face brightened as she heard his name. "I once named my boy dolly Zack. He went out with my other Dolly."  
  
Zack's eye brows raised slightly, and then a grin brook out over his face as well. He couldn't seem to feel down around this newly made aquaintence.  
  
"Got thirds by chance?"  
  
She grinned and shot up once more.  
  
---  
  
A large blade sliced the air with amazing speed. The flash of silver, the crack of the air replacing itself as quickly as possible.  
  
Silver hair flowed as the quick movement and slightly disturbed it.  
  
"You're improving." Hojo's voice came from a darkened corner of the room.  
  
"No thanks to you."  
  
"But you owe all your thanks to me."  
  
"You can take my thanks and shove it up your-"  
  
Gast suddenly entered through the single door. Sephiroth's mouth shut quickly, and Hojo simple glared at the Masamune weilding man.  
  
"Well, at least our age therapy hasn't had any ill effects." Gast said as he surveyed Sephiroth.  
  
"Hmph."  
  
"Besides his attitude." Hojo remarked.  
  
Sephiroth simply snorted.  
  
"Hojo-" Gast trailed off after saying his name, not really sure of what to do.  
  
"Yes master?"  
  
"Come with me."  
  
"Yes master."  
  
The door closed as the two men left, Sephiroth left alone once again. He began to slash faster now, his movements more flowing and rapid. His training had escalated since Zack had escaped. And they had aged him a few years so that he could weild the Masamune and match up with any adult.  
  
"Hojo, we're working on memory alteration right now. Soon we'll be able to erase Zack from his memories, we'll be able to erase his child hood and replace it with an entirly different one. The possibilities are limitless."  
  
Hojo looked somewhat stunned. "Already? I though this memory project wouldn't be done for some years."  
  
"Well, a break-through was made, and they've finished quite ahead of schedule."  
  
"I see..." Hojo scratched the small beard he had recently grew. He hadn't had time to shave in two weeks now. Constintly watching over Sephiroth and guiding him through the training, creating the perfect SOLDIER.  
  
"The Jenova cells are awakening." Hojo said, suddenly changing the subject.  
  
Gast stepped back, reeling for a second. "But they weren't supposed to awaken until WE awakened them."  
  
"I know, but somehow they're already starting to dominate Sephiroth's body. His strength, speed, reflexes, all are increasing at exponentials rates. Soon it will be impossible to contain him."  
  
"Not if we implant memories of a quite, and obeying child. In escense we can change who he is."  
  
Hojo nodded. "Perhaps you better prepare the procedure."  
  
"Alright, I will get right to it."  
  
---  
  
Elmyra watched as Zack and Aeris took a walk through the garden they had planted together. They had become such good friends in the few weeks they had been together, growing closer all the time.  
  
She sighed as the little girl had already seemed to have fallen in love. "Amazing," She whispered silently to herself.  
  
The two were holding hands, walking down a pre made path, talking of useless oddities.  
  
---  
  
"He's finished."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The clone."  
  
"I see..." Gast turned to Hojo, his hair greying around the edges. "Send him in then."  
  
A small boy with blonde hair walked through the door, his eyes had already taken on the color of the Mako, they're glowing blue-green taking a back seat only to his spiky blonde hair.  
  
"What the hell?!" Gast yelled as the boy walked through.  
  
"Complications arose and we had to use some of Zack's DNA."  
  
"I wanted a direct clone of Sephiroth. A spitting image, an exact copy."  
  
"This is just as good Gast, he's just as strong as Sephiroth, just as smart, quick, everything. He just looks more like Zack."  
  
Gast looked into the boy's Mako infused eyes. "Humph."  
  
The boy looked back, unflinching.  
  
"Well then, began implanting memories of a life for him. Make it a life of pain and suffering, the more the better the fighter he will become."  
  
"Right." Hojo replied as he took the boy's hand and led him away.  
  
Hojo stared at the ceiling, wondering how Sephiroth's training was going and what had happened to Zack.  
  
---  
  
Sephiroth stood in the center of the metallic room, his sword in hand, his silver hair cut short. A pile of the silver strands lay in the corner, as well as some of his food remains.  
  
His eyes were cold and empty as he tried to pierce through the wall with them.  
  
But in the end he knew it was useless, the wall wouldn't even scratch when he slashed at it. His muscles were much larger now, for they had become visible through his loose fitting shirt.  
  
"HOJO!!!" He suddenly screamed, slicing the air with his sword. Being locked in the room for 4 days now had nearly driven him crazy. His mako and food were provided, but he couldn't figure out how. "No matter..." He whispered. "When he comes back, I will kill him..."  
  
---  
  
Zack looked at his feet, his knees hunched up against his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. Aeris was asleep and now was his time to think. He tried to forget the memories. The battle he had fought, the dead bodies. Sephiroth killing more living people. Ending their lives. Forever.  
  
He tried to curle himself more in a ball as the memories flooded back. Luckily he seemed to be away from the war, at least for now, here in the slums of Midgar.  
  
A tear rolled down his cheek as he slipped into a light sleep.  
  
---  
  
Cloud rolled restlessly in his bed, his mind unsettled and his thoughts violently racking his soul to the core.  
  
He shuddered as images of corpses filled his mind's eye. Violent killings ringed in his ears. "SHUT UP!!" He yelled. "GO AWAY!!!" His scream was high pitched and desperate. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" No one heard however, his hopeless cries fell on deaf ears.  
  
Sobs threw his body into spasms, and the small cot he slept on creaked and shook with him. His "room" resembled the cell that Sephiroth was held in. It's greyish tones only setting the mood for the environment.  
  
Hojo monitored the boy through a small screen in the room next door. No emotion showed on his face, not a flicker of sympathy, or a flash of empathy.  
  
He got up slowly, seeing Sephiroth's monitor suddenly turn to snow.  
  
"Gast. Problem. Sephiroth."  
  
As Gast heard Hojo utter the three simple words, he wasn't surprised. Not at all. He knew Sephiroth would be escaping soon, it had always been a matter of time. And that time was now.  
  
"Stop him." Gast, muttered, his eyes still closed.  
  
The door was kicked in as Gast said the words, the two scientists jumped.  
  
"That won't be nessicary." An icy voice chilled the spines of the two, freezing them in place, neither able to run.  
  
"You've created a monster, now its time to face it." A quick slash sent one of the two sprawling in two.  
  
Blood sprayed as the dismembered Gast flew in opposite directions.  
  
"Amazing. He bleeds blood. I thought for sure his unhuman ways proved differently."  
  
Hojo simply starred in astonishment at the silver haired man.  
  
"Afraid of your own creation Hojo? Pity the pupil who does not surpass the master." With the the great Masamune flew not to the throat of the other man, but back to its sheath. A soft metallic sound was made as the great sword was put away.  
  
Hojo simply shook, slowly backing into the corner. Sephiroth chuckled, obviously amused by Hojo's action's.  
  
"I'll be watching you. Like you did me. Make one wrong move, and you will die."  
  
With that Sephiroth left the room as quickly as he had came.  
  
---  
  
Zack huddled in the corner once again. Only this time Aeris was watching, and a worried look appeared on her face.  
  
"Zack please, you have to tell me what's wrong!"  
  
Zack shuddered and rocked back and forth.  
  
Aeris looked into his eyes pleadingly, their relationship had grown over the past couple weeks, but now something was wronge. Terribly wrong.  
  
"He's free..." Zack's voice suddenly broke the silence, its harshness suprising Aeris.  
  
"What? Who?"  
  
Zack shook his head.  
  
"Zack! What's wrong? Why can't you tell me?"  
  
"Sephiroth!"  
  
"Who?"  
  
His breath was quick and erratic. "One of the ones I was running from. One of them!"  
  
Aeris's face continued to wear a look of confusion.  
  
"Aeris, I have to go! I can't endanger you!" With he sprang to his feet and sprinted off. At first, Aeris tried to follow, but soon gave up after she lost sight of Zack.  
  
With an exhasperated look she stomped back to her house and up to her room.  
  
  
---  
  
Cloud looked at the open door. All he could see was red. Crimson. Blood.  
  
He knew it was blood because he had seen his own before. When they had beat him. To "toughen him up" they had said. He began to walk through it, his feet slipping and sliding, the red liquid seemed unhappy to be distrubbed.  
  
He trudged through the hallways that he had long since memorized until he found the door marked exit.  
  
He pushed through, the sun light suddenly blinding him. He cried out in pain as his eyes witnessed the power of the sun for the first time.  
  
Slowly he was able to open them a crack, letting a small amount of the blinding light through. Eventually he could make out shapes. Buildings. Lots of them.  
  
Having been raised in captivity his whole life, which had actually only spanned that of a couple weeks, although he resembled something more of an 8 year old, had not been the best of experiences.  
  
He shut the door slowly behind him, witnessing the bustle of everyday life for the first time. His astonishment didn't soon wear off, for he continued to find new things. Water for intstance. He had never seen puddles of it sloshing on the ground. Only in small glass containers.  
  
He took a sip of the water, as he had seen many of the adults in the lab do. And quite suddenly an older woman slapped him upside the head.  
  
"What're ya doin child?! Drinkin off the street like ye're some kinda homeless child are ya?!" She had a strange bright face, with bright orangish hair to match. "Well then, a shy one are ya? Speak up if ya have any parents to call ye're own!"  
  
"I have none." Cloud replied meekly.  
  
"OH!? My my child, follow me and we'll get some meat on those bones o yers." She grasped his hand in a frim grip, not painful, but firm, and practically dragged him along the streets of the city until they reached a large elevator.  
  
"This be the way down to mah house, ye're welcome there if ya want."  
  
"I guess so..."  
  
she took him by the hand and led him into it, and quite suddely it jerked and began its descent.  
  
Cloud looked around, absorbing everything he could as they descended further and further.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"The slums o course!"  
  
"Slums?"  
  
"Ya know, the not so rich part o Midgar."  
  
Cloud simply blinked a couple times and scratched the back of his head.  
  
Then the elevator jerked to a stop, nearly making Cloud loose his balance.  
  
"Here we are now." She grasped his hand once more and led him down a series of paths until they reached a home near a small church.  
  
She led him inside and showed him around. Where he was sleeping, where he could find food, etc. Then she left, told him to stay put and that she'd be back soon.  
  
Immediatly Cloud left, wandering the streets of these slums. Observing everything.  
  
He saw a small girl, crying in a corner. He wondered what he should do. But rather than stopping he kept walking, trying to forget the beautiful brown hair. But something else had caught his eye. A small white globe tied into her hair.  
  
He pondered the thought of what it could have been as he continued to walk the streets aimlessly. Then he found the elevator once more, desciding to ascend back to the top of the city.  
  
"I need out..." He said quietly to himself as he began to wander the streets once more. "Excuse me," he tugged on the pant leg of a passer by. "How can I get out?"  
  
"Out?"  
  
"Of the city."  
  
"Why the devil wouldja wanna leave?! Bah! Nevermind, You go straight back that way and you should reach a big door, that's the exit." The gruff voice was strange to Cloud, and he tried to remember it as he mentally noted the directions.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Cloud turned and began to walk down the road until he came upon the large gates. They were large indeed. They looked like solid metal. He tapped on it slightly and the two doors made a terrible creaking noise as the slid apart.  
  
He looked out over the brownish area until he saw green.  
  
"Green is good." He thought as he began walking once more without a purpose.  
  
---  
  
A small girl with long black hair tossed a ball high into the air. Another girl with blonde hair batted it into the air as it began to fall to the ground. And then another child followed suite and did the same.  
  
All three were playing just outside their small town of Kalm.  
  
"Tifa! Angela! Bryce! Dinner!" One of the three's mother's called.  
  
"COMING!!" They all returned in unison as they dashed off toward the town.  
  
Suddenly Tifa spun around on her heel to retrieve the ball they had almost forgot.  
  
She stooped down, clutching the ball between her arms and then stood up, her face only inches from that of a spikey-blonde hair boy.  
  
"Hello." He said.  
  
Tifa screamed as she stumbled backwards.  
  
A look of consternation crossed Cloud's face as he watched the girl fall back. He offered a hand to her, and to his surprise she took it.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," She mumbled. "You just scared me."  
  
Cloud remained silent, afraid he would scare her again.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Cloud." He said after a few more moments of silence.  
  
"I'm Tifa!" She spit on her hand and stuck it out.  
  
Cloud looked at it quizitively.  
  
"You're not from around here are ya?"  
  
"Humm...nope."  
  
"That's alright, me and my pals will take ya in! We've always got room for one more!"  
  
"Thanks I guess.." He said, somewhat sheepishly.   
  
"Common, follow me! Bryce's mom is making dinner! And trust me, she makes the best food in all of Kalm! A regular chef!"  
  
Cloud followed quickly behind his new found friend, hopping that he was forever away from the city behind him. 


End file.
